Mera Cronbaugh

Mera believes that U.S. social policy should equitably reflect the social contract we have to one another. In practice, this means she wants to ensure that social policy is informed by rigorous evidence developed in partnership with New American communities. As a Senior Policy Associate at J-PAL North America, she assisted U.S. states and localities in developing rigorous evidence to inform social policy. Mera also communicated extensively about the important role of researcher-practitioner partnerships in evidence-based policymaking and led an initiative exploring the role of community engagement and participatory research in government-led evaluation work. Mera holds a B.S. from The Ohio State University, where she studied economics and Russian with a minor in consumer and family financial services. Before joining J-PAL, Mera interned for a financial planning firm in Central Ohio. She also worked with a Central Ohio refugee resettlement agency and served as a long-term mentor in their youth program.